The HalfPack
by Salene the WolfCat
Summary: Rin is rescued by a strange demon who takes her in. Soon Sesshomaru comes looking for her and is surprised to find her living among hanyous and hybrid demons. He is even more surprised when he meets the pack leader.
1. Rescue

Jae Beth Gokune silently stalked her prey, a large hare. Her pack elders were also hunting for food. She crouched low then pounced on her unsuspecting prey. Her jaws closed around the hare's neck and she quickly snapped it in two. An easy and clean kill.

Standing, she transformed into her human form. She had long, black, white-streaked hair that she kept in a tight braid. She had one gold eye and one black eye. Her ears were wolf ears and were white with black tips. She had a long fluffy tail, which was black with a white tip. She also had long curvy fangs and black claws.

Stuffing the hare in a bag full of other prey, Jae began to walk off. Suddenly, she heard a loud, high pitched scream. Without stopping, Jae quickly changed her course and went in the direction of the scream. Soon, she reached a large clearing. A human child, female, was being chased by a large lizard demon. The child wore a red and orange checkered kimono. Her long, black hair was partially in a ponytail. Tears ran down her face as she ran.

Jae growled deep in her throat, before giving a challenging howl. The lizard answered with growl. The prize would be the girl.

The wolf/dog demon hybrid howled out a battle cry as she rushed forward. She lashed out at the demon with her claws. Within minutes, she had totaled the demon. A shard of some jewel was lying in the beast's maw. She grabbed it and the demon turned to bone.

Jae pocketed the shard and turned to the girl. The human was trembling in fear. Jae's eyes filled with compassion and she kneeled in front of the young girl.

"Hello little one, my name is Jae Beth Gokune. I mean no harm to you." Jae smiled and reached toward the girl. "What is your name child?"

"R-rin's name is Rin." The girl took Jae's hand and smiled. "Are you a youkai, my lady?"

"Yes. In a way, I am." Jae stood and picked the girl up. "And please, call me Jae." She smiled and kissed Rin's forehead. "Come Rin. I wish to show you my pack."

"Yes, Lady Jae!" Rin smiled happily. Jae moved the child to her back and ran off.

Sesshomaru heard Rin's scream from four or five miles away. He stopped and slowly turned. After a few minutes, he began to run.

Soon he reached a clearing. As he and his servants stepped out, his half-brother, Inuyasha, and his pack did as well, just a few feet away.

"Sesshomaru! Where's Rin?" Kagome, Shippo, and Sango all looked worried. Kagome was the one who'd asked the question.

"I don't…know." Sesshomaru examined the clearing. There were demon bones on the ground a few yards away from the two groups. Rin's fear filled the air along with that of another demon's, a female to be precise. "They went that way." The two groups ran off in the direction that Sesshomaru had pointed out.

Rin looked around at the hanyous and hybrids that walked by her and Jae. Some of them stopped to say hello to her and Jae while others waved or simply smiled at them.

"Well this is my pack and our humble abode." Jae had brought her underground into a maze of tunnels where the half pack lived.

"Why do you have so many hanyous and hybrids in your pack?" Rin asked curiously.

"Because, I myself am a hybrid." Jae answered truthfully. "When I was younger, the people in the village I lived in feared me and would hurt me if I came near. So the day I left I vowed that I would gather all the hanyous and hybrids that I could find make a pack out of them. I wanted to give them a home where they would be loved and cared for. So I created the Half-Pack. There are sixty hanyous, fifty hybrids, three humans, and one full demon in the pack."

"Wow, that's a lot." Rin said awed.

"Yes it is." Jae chuckled. "And I know them all by name." There was a loud howl and Jae froze in fear. "The signal! The slave traders have returned!"

"Sesshomaru, do you smell that?" Inuyasha stopped running and sniffed the air, as did Sesshomaru. Their upper lips curled up in disgust. "Ugh. What is that?"

"It's a mixture of different scents." Sesshomaru sniffed once more. "I can smell blood, tears, urine, fear, and sickness."

"And hanyous! Shippo cried out from his spot on Kagome's shoulder.

"What could make such an awful stench?" Inuyasha covered his nose and mouth so he wouldn't smell it.

"Slaves." Sesshomaru growled. Everybody looked at him confused. "Slave hunters are in these woods somewhere. They kidnap young hanyous and sell them as slaves. Father did not allow them to enter the Western Lands."

Suddenly a loud commotion could be heard coming from the direction of the scent. The group could hear yelling, screaming, growling, and a lot of cursing. They quickly ran towards it.


	2. Slaves

"Dakota, you bloody fool!" Jae yelled at her second-in-command. "Why the heck did you shoot the arrow into his butt?"

"You forget! I have bad aim!" Dakota unsheathed his sword and jumped down from the tree.

"Yeah, but even you should've been able to aim for the ground, baka!" Jae pulled out her fang sword, Tsuinfangu, and climbed out of the tree. The two made quick work of the slavers, arguing the whole time. "Shut yer mouth, you bloody baka!"

"I'm not a baka!" Dakota glared while slicing a slaver in half.

"Are too." Jae dodged a punch and kicked the man that attacked her.

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are!"

"Not!"

"Are!"

"Not!"

"Not!"

"Are!"

"Hah! You agree with me!" Jae laughed triumphantly. She stabbed another slaver in the heart.

"Dang it! I fell for it again! How?" Dakota kicked his new opponent in the chest, easily breaking their ribs and puncturing their lung.

"Because you never expect it!" Jae laughed and punched a slaver in the head, efficiently breaking his skull. She turned to the last slaver and dropped her carefree attitude. "I thought I warned you never to return." She growled angrily. "Where are the ones you've kidnapped?"

"In the wagon." The slaver had a child's voice. He was quite short and wore a hat that covered his eyes. There was a quaver in his voice and Jae could smell the salt of tears. She reached forward and pulled the slaver's hat off to reveal a child. He burst into tears and fell to the ground. "Please don't kill me! I didn't want to come, but Papa made me!" The boy babbled on in fear. Jae gathered him in her arms and hugged him to her.

"Hush little one. I have no need to kill you, so do not fear." Jae made shushing noises and rocked back and forth. "Dakota, go over to the wagon and set the people in there free."

Jae stood up and watched as Dakota released the slaver's prisoners. She giggled when the children in the wagon all tried to give Dakota a hug. All they managed to do was knock him over. Jae felt the child she was holding tap her on the shoulder and looked at him.

"Why didn't you kill me?" The boy looked at her in confusion.

"Because I don't kill children." Jae explained, wiping away the tearstains on the boy's face. "It doesn't matter if they're human, demon, or hanyou. I won't kill them."

"Why not?" The child asked curiously.

"Because they're children." Jae kissed the boy on the brow. "And because they're innocent."

"Oh." The child was quiet. "What is your name?"

"Jae Beth Gokune." Jae began to slowly walk over to Dakota. "What's yours?"

"Torao." The boy looked at her and smiled shyly. "Saito Torao."

"Tiger is a powerful name for a child." Jae was a bit surprised at the child's name but didn't let it show. "But a good one."

~Line break~

Sesshomaru and the others watched the scene before them. They were awed at the sight of the two demons defeating the slavers but were surprised when they didn't kill the slaver child. They struggled to stifle their laughter when the male was knocked over by the hanyou children.

"Who are those two demons?" Kagome whispered to InuYasha.

"Why the heck would I know?! This is the first time I've ever seen them!" InuYasha whispered/yelled. Sesshomaru gestured for them to be quiet and for once they listened. They continued to watch the two demons as they helped the former prisoners. Kagome shifted her weight and snapped a twig that had been under her. The people in the clearing froze and turned to where the group hid.

"Come out. Now." The girl called Jae pulled out her sword and growled. "Or I'll come in. And trust me. You don't want that."


End file.
